A bipartisan measure introduced this week in the House would clarify the VA’s authority on whether the agency can research marijuana.

Photo by Jose Luis Villegas/Sacramento Bee/MCT/Sipa USA

Some veterans are already using cannabis as a viable alternative to highly addictive and potentially fatal opioids in treating ailments associated with their military service, such as post-traumatic stress and chronic pain.

The bill would authorize VA to advance such research and require the department to report any findings to Congress over a five-year period.

This legislation already has a fairly good chance of getting out of committee as it was introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn), chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn), the ranking minority-party member of the committee.

“As a physician, I’m keenly aware of the need to look for opioid alternatives to treat patients’ chronic pain,” Roe said in a statement. “I’ve heard from many veterans, both with physical and invisible wounds, who believe medical cannabis could benefit them.”

There are 35 other co-sponsors, including seven Republicans. Leaders in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are currently reviewing companion legislation.

Ignoring for a moment the ridiculous length of the bill’s title, H.R. 2020, introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), would do just as the name suggests, reclassify cannabis from its current schedule I to schedule III.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, schedule I drugs are reserved for those have a “high potential for abuse,” and have “no currently accepted medical use.”

Marijuana shares its current classification with heroin, LSD, and MDMA. Moving cannabis from schedule I to III would make it easier for scientists, including VA researchers, to investigate any of its medical benefits. Schedule III drugs include ketamine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone.

Potential rival Democrat presidential candidates are joining forces on legislation to end the federal battle on cannabis. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), last year.

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If passed, the proposed legislation would not only remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act so states could chart their own pot destinies, but would also withhold federal funding from states that maintain criminalization and continue to have racially disproportionate arrest and incarceration rates for the plant.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, another rumored 2020 contender, is also a co-sponsor.

Chuck Schumer is down with legal weed

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce legislation Friday that would decriminalize cannabis on the federal level, adding another high-profile advocate in the effort to reform the nation’s marijuana laws.

THREAD: It’s official. Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It’s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.

The legislation would remove weed from the list of scheduled substances that puts the plant on the same level as heroin. It would also establish funding for women-and-minority owned cannabis businesses, require additional research on its public health impact, and uphold federal authority to regulate advertising, similar to existing guidelines for alcohol and tobacco.

“If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal?” Schumer told Vice News in an interview Thursday previewing his bill.

For Schumer, this is a huge shift. While he has supported medical cannabis and right of states to tryout legal sales of marijuana, what he’s announcing would dramatically change federal pot policy.